All That Was Left: Honor

by All That Was Left

The Fire Nation has been defeated at Ba Sing Se. Lu Ten is dead, General Iroh disgraced, Fire Lord Azulon passed, and Ozai inheriting his throne. As the Earth Kingdom aggressively regains its territory and the Fire Nation attempts to assert control, a group of Fire Nation deserters seek to protect those unable to defend themselves, and punish those who abuse their power.

36. Chapter 33: The Outcome at Xiahu

Luke

On the battlefield, while at war, one skill that was trained more than many others was finding the excuse to celebrate. The team got back from a patrol alive? Celebrate. The squad scored a kill? Celebrate. Only 50% casualty rates? Celebrate. Still alive? Celebrate.

As the time living on the precipice of death droned on, the justifications for a hard drink became all the more lax. Maybe Ba Sing Se would have turned out differently for myself had I let myself settle down from time to time. Watching the Earth Kingdom soldiers around me now though, no inclination to go easy on the alcohol present, I reconsidered that notion. Danger was the furthest thing from their minds.

In Ba Sing Se, you couldn't allow your mind to go null. If you got caught in an 0200 bombardment, found that you were pulling patrol duty the next day, or spirits' forbid, were taking part in an assault, if you didn't have your wits about you, you were doing yourself no favors. It had all come down to luck at the end of the day, I suppose, but the handicap was by no means a necessary one.

One had to wonder just how these soldiers had survived here for so long with the state they were in. All it had taken was less than a day to come to the realization that they hadn't seen action since the Fire Navy had established their blockade. There had been some initial skirmishes that the Earth Kingdom had triumphed in, holding the southern coast, but beyond that, in the years that this campaign had been being waged, they'd seem to have forgotten that a hostile force occupied the waters they neighbored.

Feasting, drunken, acting an oaf, Commander Hanief wasn't particularly setting an example for his men to follow. Or, rather, he was, but just the wrong example at that. His crew seemed more than content to follow in his footsteps all with the exception of Captain Cholla who was, by all counts, being what a proper model should be. He checked up on the tables, removed those drunken enough to be putting their lives or the lives of others at risk, and for the most part, just rendered himself somebody of actual use around here. I couldn't help but look at the man with a degree of begrudging respect, coming to a quick enough assessment that he was the kind of man I'd be willing to fight under. Pity he's got to be fighting for the Earth Kingdom.

I ignored the drink in front of me as I grabbed a bun that'd been situated on the table between me and Zek. It was stale. How long had this been in storage? It was quick enough for me to realize that I'd eaten worse. Far worse. At least this bread wasn't moldy.

"You're going to eat that?" Zek asked, looking over as I slammed the bread into the corner of the table to break it open and make enough room for me to shove my fingers inside and tear it apart, giving me access to the interior.

"For somebody who's been to my home city, you still seem to have a very odd impression of me being a picky eater," I retorted before taking a bite, not sure if bread was supposed to be crunchy, the type I was more accustomed to being soggy and oozing. But thinking back on it, mold did tend to have that effect.

"How long until you think they're done cooking?"

I shrugged, possessing no earthly idea. I tried thinking back on time aboard the Patriot. Ka'lira had cooked for us then, but for the most part it had really been Gordez doing the work along with her help. The man, despite his rough edges from working mechanics all his life, possessed a very odd grasp on the culinary arts if the meals he'd prepared had been any indication. "Do you think we should go help them?"

Zek scoffed, turning to me to ask, "Do you think we know how to cook?"

"No…," I responded, seeing his point. "Do they know how to cook?"

Zek considered, thinking. "Maybe? Huh. No clue. It's Gordez they should have in there right now."

"Where is he anyway?" I asked. All we knew was that he certainly wasn't with us. None of us had been surprised when he hadn't showed up. Commander Hanief, only tipsy at the moment rather than full-blown drunk, had still been conscious enough to possess a small degree of disappointment at his guest's absense, but soon seemed to get over it as he filled the void with alcohol as seemed to be a common practice in service.

Zek shrugged, clearly having no idea himself, but I think we both figured that the man was likely around the artillery emplacements, admiring the sight, or more intelligently, had already gone off to sleep, knocking himself out before his drunken bedmates arrives. Likely a wise decision. Wouldn't be a bad idea to do the same myself.

Gordez had never been the type to really enjoy the company of strangers. I could only imagine the effort it had taken him to represent us to the groups we ran across in these last few weeks, be it the Revanchist Tribe, the Nuns, or the Earth Kingdom now. I wouldn't be surprised if Boss was grooming him for command. If there was anybody to pick, it would naturally fall to the most senior of us save Boss himself. There was, however, something disconcerting about just how much Boss seemed to be entrusting everything to Gordez. Not in the sense that it's due to Gordez, but just that he's been seeming so prepared to ready a replacement. Hell, he'd given Gordez command of his entire squad with the exception of Jadoh. He was quite literally putting all of our lives in the hands of his successor.

And it was paying off. Since we'd left, we'd allied the Revanchists, helped a town partially recover from disaster, recruit a new member, and successfully link up with the Earth Kingdom.

I wondered what was going on with Boss. It was quickly approaching a month that we'd been apart from him. The last time we'd talked, he'd spoken passionately in defense of working with the Separatists and ending this conflict. I still had my doubts on whether it was simply another job, or an indication of what was to come. It's just one front. We're not turning coat. I didn't doubt that the justifications I gave myself were exclusive to only me. Zek, as of late, had shown doubts of his own, wondering if Boss's true loyalties were still with the Fire Nation and his men who believed in it. Gordez, naturally, had defended his all-time friend, but Zek seemed less inclined to believe it was as simple as that.

Things were changing. That much was obvious.

A cheer emerged through the dining hall, rather quite all things considered given that a majority of those occupying the hall were passed out or too drunk to express the joy of food being brought in. No wonder they have plenty of food. They fill themselves up on the liquor before they let their appetites build.

I shook my head in what I couldn't suppress as just sheer disappointment. How had the Fire Nation not already attacked and taken this fort? What were they waiting for?

It was around now too that Ka'lira and Zare showed up finally, two trays of food between them, finding where we sat soon enough and making their ways over to us.

"Better've been worth the wait," Zek jested as Ka'lira took a seat beside him, seemingly unamused by the comment, replacing what ordinarily would have been a playful shove with a deathly cold comment of, "It will be when I see you gulp down the meal I spit in."

Zek's only response was to stare her dead in the eyes as he raised the bowl of what appeared to be stew to his mouth, gulping down a sizeable portion of it before returning to his cold stare, simply saying, "Even better."

The comment was enough to break Ka'lira who found she couldn't maintain the act any long, devolving into a series of chuckles intermixed with complaints calling him disgusting.

I meanwhile was experimenting with the heat of the meal before me as Zare watched as though she were observing some wild animal stalking a prey. Having observed this, I simply set the bowl down, returning the gaze as she seemed to become aware of the unnerving effect her gaze was having, scooting back away, now just sneaking the occasional glance.

Needless to say, it was good. Then again, I believed everything was good so it was little compliment to call a meal "good" for me, and I would have gone on saying nothing had she not been clearly waiting for a measure of my opinion regarding its quality from me, already seemingly in the process of excusing herself in saying, "Okay, look. I don't know how to cook. Didn't really have any idea what I was doing, and-"

"It's good."

"Oh," she replied, the hesitant and frightened version of her suddenly disappearing, pride instantly rising to her face as she now spoke again, saying, "Well, I mean. I have some experience, I guess. I wouldn't call myself too shabby-"

"Yeah, I take it back," I joked. "It's shit."

"Oh," she said, head sinking exaggeratedly in a fashion clearly meant to play along with the joke, eliciting a chuckle from Zek rather than Ka'lira who seemed to think me serious for a moment, glaring across the table to ask, "Really?!"

"What?!" I defended myself. "I'm tempering expectations. That's a good thing!"

There was something about a warm meal that never got old. Gordez was always happy to provide, cooking for us even after leading us along for days at a time. Never knew where he had the energy. Couldn't help but appear to me that the group felt the least bit emptier without him right now. I supposed even his energy had limits. When it came to something like this, social company, rowdy drunkenness, he didn't really take to it. But when it meant looking after those he cared about, there was no stopping him.

All around us, the joyous celebrations, for Raava knows what, continued. In some way or another, we seemed to have caught the eye of Hanief who now worked his way towards us, freshly filled tankard in hand, spilling its contents as he clumsily worked his way towards us, which was probably for the best as he certainly didn't need any more drink inside of him than he already did.

"Ey-y-y. You're all here!" He exclaimed, raising his arms to his side as though preparing to embrace us all in one big bear hug.

"Commander," Zek responded to him, "How nice of you to join us."

It was fortunate that Hanief was drunk out of his mind, or he may have picked up on Zek's blatant sarcasm. Were Gordez or Boss here, I'm sure that the conversation would have taken a more measured approach, but with Zek being the one to lead the conversation, it came down to praying Hanief would have no memory of anything that transpired here by tomorrow morning.

Judging by the look of him, though, I had my doubts that he was even remembering the events as they transpired in this very moment.

"Why of course! I would be remiss if I didn't check up on my esteemed guests!"

"Just checking up then?" Zek asked. "Or was there something more useful you came here for?"

"I-uh," he hiccupped, then just stopped, wondering to himself just why he was here. "Oh. Yes yes! I remember now! I sent that letter I was talking about to those nuns of yours. Let them know that if they come by here, we can see what we can do to help them out."

It was there that Zare shot into attention, and logically so, exclaiming, "Great! Thank you!"

"Anytime," he said with a lazy half-salute. In the rear of the hall, his name was being called and Hanief now seemed suddenly aware of 'other commitments.' "Well, it was great catching up, but I have important Earth Kingdom business to attend to." He grinned devilishly before turning on his heel towards the drinking companions he had temporarily left astray as he came over to us.

In my time growing up, I'd known two types of drinkers. The 'admirable' drinker, and the 'pathetic' drinker. The admirable drinker drank for a reason. Whether it was to forget, enjoy a moment, put himself out of misery, it didn't matter. They had a reason. Then there was the pathetic drinker, who drank because there was drink to be drunk. They thrived on the high that the alcohol provided and had no aim for their binge beyond lasting long enough to pour another down the hatch. Those were the tier of drinkers I found myself surrounded by now.

Now that I considered it, watching around at the crowd, many of whom were now becoming drunk to start eyeing up Ka'lira, something that very much put her at unease, and even some of the more desperate eyes following Zare, all of us damn near ready to gut whoever even tried to do something. It became obvious that our time here had been overspent.

"Let's get out of here?" Zek offered.

There wasn't a disagreement among us as we stood to leave, only one soldier protesting our early departure, but was stopped short by a case of drunken depth perception, seeing him tumbling over a bench and falling flat on his face while the laughter of his comrades ensued.

The circumstances we found ourselves in outside were a marked improvement, a cold wind blowing in from the sea, the fog seeming to have extended this far as well. Or it's just natural fog, I supposed. Couldn't begin assuming everything was the responsibility of the waterbenders, but it would indeed be a welcome occurrence in knowing that their shrouding barrier extended this far.

"So," Ka'lira spoke up. "What we gonna call it a night here?"

"You kidding me?" Zek asked, extended his arms in disbelief. I still have some juice left in me. Ey, Luke!"

"Mmm?"

"Earth Kingdom doesn't lock down their weapons here," he said, referring indeed to the weapon racks still left out after dark, a violation that would never pass in a Fire Nation installation. "Thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Isn't it a bit late for me to be kicking your ass?"

"That a challenge?"

"Damn straight," I grinned, already setting off towards the racks not far away, overhearing Ka'lira as she now spoke to Zare.

"Well while the boys are out whacking each other, you want to get some shuteye."

"I'm fine to watch. Still got plenty of energy for the night," Zare commented with a shrug that I noticed after Zek and I had retrieved some optimal-seeming sparring blades, dulled at the edges. "Kinda want to see who wins."

Ka'lira scoffed. "Please. If it's anything like the dozens of other times I've watched, it'll just be them hitting each other with a stick for a few minutes before they both get too tired and try to tally who got more hits on the other person."

The chuckling duo, I believe, reinvigorated the both of us, Zek turning to me to say with a smirk, "Let's give the ladies a show then, eh?"

I needed only answer with my returning smirk myself, entering a ready position, favoring a one-handed fighting style, lighter and more versatile while Zek did likewise, but in a position that showed me he planned on favoring a defensive technique, letting me tire myself out, opening the way for him to get a decisive hit on me.

It'd worked back in Ba Sing Se over a year ago, and perhaps it had won him a few matches over the last few months, but if he thought I'd learned nothing from all this time, well, then I was frankly insulted.

Still, sometimes it took springing one's trap in order to let them reveal their own weaknesses, and so I struck first, a blow I allowed to go wide to conserve my energy, holding back, gauging how quick his reflexes were tonight. He quickly reflected the attack despite it not having been on course to hit anything, and quickly returned to a defensive position. Quick, but I'll need more than that.

I launched another 3 consecutive blows, all of which he deflected, not quite with the same speed, but still fast enough to pose a danger. Going to have to lower that. Tire him out.

He noticed I was bringing up my aggression, accounted for it by gripping his blade with 2 hands, better equipped to having me run out of energy all the sooner if he could have my blows fall on nothing but an unbreakable defense. Luckily, I had no intention of throwing my weight against a block I couldn't break. Rather, I allowed a weak blow to fall upon his 2-handed grip, quickly shifting attack his right flank, a block he made easily enough while maintaining a two-handed grip. He wasn't, however, able to maintain that same grip as I brought a two-handed blow to his left side, requiring him to switch to one hand, the force driving him back, sending a clatter up his arm as I could see.

He looked up to me above his blade. He knew what I was trying to do. His own offensive had come. It was a powerful two-handed blow he swung at me, myself just barely dodging out of the way, relying on mobility rather than strength to not be harmed by the blow. That was close. He wasn't done, however, switching to one hand for an upward slash, clanging against my wooden sword. The blow, however, was desperate, just meant to prevent me from attacking his exposed side. I, however, took the other opportunity presented to me, and locked his blade, using his compromised position to my advantage to swipe it aside and score a stab against his shoulder. The force was enough to send him back, but not down. Not even close. He was just getting started.

He retaliated now, a swing to my left, my right, right again, swiping for me feet, a narrow dodge on my part avoiding it but putting my balance into disarray, a state he took advantage of land a slash against my side, particularly hard at that, sending me to my knee, but just like him, I was far from done.

And so the exchange in blows, slashes, stabs, and blocks continued, my blood pumping nearly as much as it had when finding myself toe to toe with somebody who truly did desire my death. It would be hard for an outsider to surmise that there was no hostility between us judging by the ferocity of the two combatants at play. And in that moment, perhaps there was hostility, but only in the combative sense as we landed blows on one another, fighting to the last breath until our muscles were heavy, our hearts and lungs screaming at us to stop, eventually, both of our blades falling to the ground in near unison as we stood there, huddled over, hands on our knees, just gasping for air.

"O-okay," I sputtered out, panting for dear life. "I think we're about good."

"You sure?"

"No, no, I can keep going if you want to." I coughed. "You want to keep going?"

Zek entered his own coughing fit as well, just barely managing to get the words out as he said. "No. No. I think we're good. I came out on top anyway."

"Hell you mean? I landed more hits on you?"

"No," he coughed. "No you didn't! That one at the beginning didn't count. Didn't know we were being for real."

"Fuck you mean 'didn't count'?!" I yelled. "You still tried blocking it!"

"Because you surprised me with how intense you were getting. You were way too into it."

"Fuck you!"

"No, fuck you!"

Our focus on one another was only broken by the hysterical laughter emerging from the two females watching us from the side. "What did I say?" Ka'lira guffawed. "Just like every other time!"

"Okay!" Zek countered. "But I undoubtedly won this time!"

"Ha!" I retorted. "So you admit you lost every other time!"

"I didn't say that!"

"Ah, but you insinuated it."

"Ahem," came a voice from one of the two females standing off to our side, tearing us away from each other's throats once again.

The voice had belonged to Ka'lira, made clear when she referred to her boyfriend and stated, "Yeah, I'm going to let you two hug it out. I'm going to sleep."

"Wait," Zek said, quickly leaving me behind. "I'll come with."

"Tsk. Not really sure that the Earth Kingdom'll like that."

"Well…I could at least just walk you there."

"I could accept that."

And so Zek at the end of that saw himself feeling like the true victory after all, turning back to Zare and me to say, "Alright, you kids enjoy yourself."

"Oh come on? You're leaving? I was just getting warmed up."

"Practice with Zare. Getting your ass beat by a woman changes a man. Trust me. I know."

Ka'lira's look at that reminded Zek of the thin ice he was on, prompting him to immediately shut up as they ascended the stairs taking them to the walls on the perimeter of Xiahu en route to where I assumed her quarters were.

I had Zare alone now. A more devious mind would have had obvious intentions, but I wasn't of the sort. Instead of perverted notions, I had questions and an insatiable demand for answers. I'd seen the face she'd made when Zek proposed we practice between one another.

"Well," stated Zare with a stretch of her arms in a clear effort of demonstrating exhaustion, likely exaggerated at that. "I probably should get going too."

You aren't getting out of this that easily.

"So soon?" I asked. "What ever happened to 'I have plenty of energy for the night'?"

"Oh you know," she shrugged with a nonchalant chuckle. "Watching two men beat each other with sticks is fun and all, but also quite tiring."

"Well, I can't have you walking in on the lovebirds. So I have you for a few minutes yet. How 'bout you pick up a bow, get some practice in. Been meaning to see what you're capable of."

There was something in the look she gave me then that told me she was worried, but she still managed to play it off rather well. Enough so that it might have deceived somebody who wasn't looking for it. "As I said, I'm not too good. I can land a few shots, sure, but I'm no expert."

"Then show me."

"It's dark out."

"I'll light a torch."

"Is there an issue?" she was playing off her worry as frustration. It wasn't working.

"Fine," she shrugged, now phasing into the indifference portion of her act. "If it means so much to you."

"It does, as a matter of fact."

A shadow of a glare lined her face as she retreated to the rack holding different bows and arrows off to the side. Her instincts betrayed her performance as she very clearly tested the weight of different bows, picking them up ever so slightly before finding one she clearly favored, but remembering her purpose, set it back down, opting for one far inferior.

I wanted to ask why she picked it, provoke her further, push her limits, but decided not to, letting her think that facet of her act had been played off well. Don't get me wrong, she knew what she was doing, but overriding instinct was something else in its entirety, something that not even the most deliberate of human intervention could replace.

So she uncorrected her stance, deliberately fumbled with the arrow at first until realizing she was overcompensating, allowing herself to score not a half bad shot on the targeted hay bale. Perhaps too "not half bad" I imagined she was thinking as she deliberately flunked her next shot.

"Not very consistent," I commented, half-amused, the other half of me wondering just what the hell she was covering up.

"I told you. I can shoot, but I'm not great."

"I wasn't talking about your aim. I mean your act. It's shit."

"What do you mean?"

"Come on. 'I'm not great.' I saw what you did in the woods outside of Heigou. The man you killed to save my ass."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Luke, but that wasn't me."

"Zare, please, for spirits' sake, you don't need to insult my intelligence. What the hell are you hiding?"

"I'm not hiding anything!"

"Zare!

She was done talking now. Had nothing more to say by the look of it, just facing me in disbelief. She just threw down the bow onto the ground, released the quiver from around her back, and set off. And so I'd pushed her too far.

Damnit.

Was I wrong? Was I just being completely paranoid? Was I seeing shadows where there were none, just unable to belief the reality in front of me?

She disappeared further away, behind a corner. I considered pursuing her, but decided against it. I'd messed up. That much was clear. Whether I'd messed up by pushing her too far, messed up by completely misanalysing her, it didn't matter.

"For fuck's sake, Luke," I muttered to myself, leaning over to pick up the bow and quiver. I felt the bow. It was a good one too, light but sturdy, and a great grip, the arrows just as well-constructed. Damnit.

I messed up.

Zek

We'd been walking for a little over half an hour, taking the scenic route, it seemed. I wasn't complaining, however. It was a nice night for a stroll. Cool in spite of being in the middle of Summer, the sea breeze tempering what would have otherwise been an uncomfortable muggy evening. The chirping of insects filled the night that would have otherwise been silent save for the footsteps atop the stone walls. The circumstances were made all the more comfortable by my company of course, the occasional sideways glance in her direction giving me the chance to take in the different aspects of her appearance, be it the glistening of the waning moon against her brown hair, the way it blew in the breeze, how her eyes occasionally fluttered to block out the sudden bursts of air.

She's beautiful.

I knew she noticed the looks I was giving her, blushing at first as she avoided my glances, but now welcoming them, returning the favor from time to time.

How did I get this damn lucky?

"Was that part of your master plan, then?" I jokingly asked. "Leaving them alone?"

"Maybe, maybe not," she shrugged with a grin on her face. "Luke could probably use the company."

"Eh, Jadoh would be pissed if Luke beat him to getting a girl on his arm."

"All the more reason to make sure things go well for 'em."

I scoffed, considering it, less entertained by the idea of Luke having female company than by Jadoh being pissed it wasn't him.

"Besides. They look cute together."

"Well, sure, but not nearly as cute as us."

"Aww, you think we're cute? And he I thought we were the dark, edgy, passionate kind of couple."

"Oh, I see. So that's why you brought me up here. We going to make hot steamy love in the midnight fog?"

He guffawed at the comment, amused by it as she retorted, "Ah, you wish."

"Really gonna leave me hanging then, huh?"

"Until the time is right."

"Oh, and when would that happen to be?"

"Play your cards right, and you'll find out," she grinned deviously.

She turned back around before she could notice my own smirk. Play my cards right, huh?

She came to a gradual stop atop the wall, near an abandoned sentry tower—a flaw that by no means would be tolerated in a Fire Nation base, or hell, any competent base for that matter. Where there should have been troops constantly on duty, instead there were mothballed tower while its would-be personnel drank themselves to early graves down below.

"Why'd you stop?" I asked softly, noticing as she, rather than continuing her direct b-line to what I assumed were her quarters, stayed by the edge of the wall, hands on the half-wall, looking out towards the midnight fog. "Thought you were tired."

"Oh, I am," she chuckled. "Just wanted a little more of the view. Then," she yawned, an adorable high-pitch squeak emitting from her, "Then I definitely plan on knocking out."

"Morning's walk really take a toll on you, huh?"

"Not the walk," she laughed.

"Ah," I stated, realizing what should have been obvious considering it'd been what tired me out too, surrounded by people I despised, forced to work alongside them, though I knew her reasons for hating her present company far outweighed my own. "Earth Kingdom, right?" I asked, leaning against the wall fortifications as well alongside her.

"Not even. Just soldiers. They're all fun and games until they're angry, bored, or horny. Then they think themselves mightier than the spirits themselves. Damn soldiers."

"Should I take that personally," I asked as a joke first, but then began wondering if I should. Was she wrong? That same pit in my stomach, it was growing now, that guilt I'd been feeling since that chat with Luke.

"No," she chuckled. "You're different. One of the good ones. You left after all."

Damn it, Ka'li. Why do you have to go and say something like that?

"You're giving me too much credit, Ka'li."

"No," she smiled at me, inadvertently ripping up a hole in my chest, exposing something she was about to wish had remained closed. Please don't. Not right now. "You're one of the good ones," she continued. "I've seen the kind of person you are. You've been nothing but good to me."

"Ka'li," I stopped her. "You don't know everything about me. Things used to be different. I…I used to be different."

"We all have pasts we'd like to leave behind, Zek. But you're different now. I know that."

"You don't get it."

"What don't I get?"

"The things I did. They can't just get written off as 'in the past' that easily. I don't deserve that. You wouldn't forgive it."

"What wouldn't I forgive?"

Please. Just not tonight. It'd been great up until now.

"The things I did, Ka'lira."

"And what did you do? What did you do that's so unforgivable then? What did you do that you forgot the entire purpose of everything Boss said you stand for? To start a new life."

"I-I" I wanted to stop right now. Just reverse the last 5 minutes, prevented myself from saying anything, but I was here now, in too deep. I can lie. I can always lie.

No, idiot, don't. You need to say it eventually.

Just not tonight.

Just fucking do it and get it over with.

"When I first enlisted…," There was no going back. It was here. "When I first enlisted, I guess it was some sort of initiation, my squad…" I paused. Why did I have to see her face again? Why did I need to remember that now of all times? I could still see her, her face, terrified, no. Why now? "I raped a girl," I just finished, beating around the bush too slow, too painful, to the point I just wanted to let it go, get it out, be done with it as blunt as it may be.

And then there was silence.

"What?"

It was only a whisper, and somehow that hurt far more than if she'd yelled at me with everything her lungs could muster. This, however, this was a million times worse.

I didn't know what to say. All I could manage was "I'm sorry," in a whisper barely louder than her own.

"Why?"

Why? There was no reason 'why'? I was terrified to say 'no.'

"I-"

"Why you?" Still whispering her voice cracking, face staring dead at me as though I was no longer Zek, the person she'd proclaimed she was in love with, but some stranger all of a sudden. And I supposed, in a way, I must have seemed that way.

"I thought-why you? But-but you aren't like the others…"

"Ka'lira," I barely let out, reaching forward to put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sor-"

"Don't touch me!"

And that time, it had been a yell, and I'd been wrong. It hurt. It hurt even worse, and a part of me knew it wasn't going to end there.

"Ka'lira."

"Don't talk to me! I-I thought. Damnit! Why!?"

"I was scared," I could hardly manage to say.

"YOU were scared? How the fuck do you think she felt?! Who was she anyway?!"

"She was nobody. She was just a girl that my squad had and-"

"And you decided to have your way with!"

"I didn't-I didn't decide to do anything. I j-"

"You did! You fucking did!" And she put her hands against my chest, shoving me backwards, not enough to knock me over, but enough to push me further away from her. The look in her eyes, she didn't recognize me. She had no idea who I was at that. "You-you were supposed to be different. I thought you were different.

I am. Please. You told me I am. And you're right.

"Ka'lira," I pleaded, but there was nothing I could say.

"Stay the hell away from me."

And like that, she was gone, down the steps of the wall, away from me, and not just for tonight, no, I had the distinct feeling that she would be gone for much longer than that, the consequences of what I'd said, and of what I'd done years ago now making themselves clear to me in ways I'd prayed I'd avoid. Actions, however, had consequences, and years later, I was now just starting to realize what they were.

"Damnit, Zek," I mumbled to myself. "What did I do?"

There was no point questioning it. She was gone from my sight, and from much more than that I was beginning to see.

The night was completely quiet. There was no chirping of insects, no birds heading off to sleep, there was nothing to accompany me as I just sat there. The earth itself was still. And I sat there for a few minutes longer, nothing to keep me company, just me and the mistakes I'd made years past now come back to haunt me.

I thought it was behind me. I thought I was free. I should have known better.

And so it was only me and the mistakes of a past life that refused to unlatch itself from me. Nothing in the world but silence.

The wind was still, I noticed. It was eerily silent, as though the movement of the Earth itself had ceased. There was nothing but a whistle in the distance, above me. What?

It was a whistle I knew, growing louder, closer.

No.

The explosion sounded off soon after, the castle around suddenly lit by a new light source not far behind me, brilliant in stark contrast with the shrouded nature of the rest of the world. That sunburst was not unaccompanied, however. A second explosion sounded following the whistling of its shell as I ducked to the stone floor of the wall.

No no no. This can't be happening.

Two more whistles sounded by accompanying explosions. I had no way of knowing what was even being hit, down on the ground as I was, staying low, terrified of the debris that might fly my way should I remain standing up, instincts of years in the field having hard-coded these reflexes into my memory, no evading them, simply abiding.

A scattered 3 more artillery landings sounded, and there was a pause, only momentary, but all I would get I presumed, and I raised myself, just enough to see over the fortifications and there was the fog, shrouding the Nip, but beyond it, slowly emerging into my line of sight, 3 hulking behemoths of steel floating atop the sea, the formation of the ships telling me that another bombardment was coming soon, this was destined to be far worse than the last.

The Fire Nation has attacked.

Luke

It hadn't been easy to fall asleep last night. A combination of guilt and regret was casting a dark shadow over me as I tried to drift off into sleep, preventing me from doing so, insisting on me watching a replay of all the events of that evening, of my accusations, my harshness, everything capable of making feel like the piece of shit I'd acted.

I think, eventually, I had fallen asleep. The period of sleep, however, had proven to be a short one. As soon as I'd fallen asleep, I was awake.

What? I was wondering, looking around me in the dark room, just barely making out the silhouettes of other soldiers rising from their bunks, most of them empty, their occupants still likely passed out in the mess hall as I was starting to remember.

What the hell woke us?

The confusion was dispersed evenly around the room. I looked around me towards the bunks that Hanief had offered to Gordez and Zek. Neither of them was present. How long was I asleep?

There was no light in the room, nothing entering from the thin slits higher up the walls of the barracks building. It was still night by the looks of it.

This same confusion seemed more than prevalent in the other Earth Kingdom soldiers as they stumbled off of their bunks, some drunk, a vast majority actually sober, but still groggy notwithstanding. I had no doubt I was the most awake person in the hall, already on my feet, looking around me, but no doubt just as confused as the others.

And not longer after, a flash, accompanied by a sudden boom down the hall. Dust and dirt fell from the ceiling following the noise of the explosion, the previously shrouded passageway that led to the mess hall becoming fully lit by a sudden ball of light that, once it receded, only left a pile of rubble in its wake.

There was no more confusion. Not for me. Perhaps for some of the others, there had been, wondering if it was a misfire, equipment gone haywire, but I wanted to think that it had become entirely eliminated by the time the 3rd shell came crashing down, not on us fortunately, but not far off, and we understood. This was no accident, no misfire, no damaged equipment. We were under attack. And the worst part of it all, I was likely the only sober person here.

Questions erupted around the hall of what the hell was happening, if we were under attack, of who it was as though it weren't obvious, but these question were instantly silenced by the fall of a 4th shell, this one nearer, then a 5th, and a 6th, the last of which struck the corner of the barracks with a near direct hit, the impact of the blast sending debris scattering and dust tumbling from the room.

A small pause followed; one I wasn't sure would last. I picked myself up off from the floor that I had, apparently, thrown myself too, having not even noticed the muscle memory reaction, reaching immediately for my bag, holstering my blade, clipping the sheath to my belt, and rummaging inside my pack for Danev's knife, quickly attaching that as well. It was then a matter of fumbling along the ground for my chest piece with no light source other than a growing fire at the other end of the hall. I eventually did come across it, securing it tightly just in time for another barrage to begin, sending the soldiers who had been attempting to gain their bearings hurtling themselves to the ground once again. I was no exception.

These explosions however, they were softer. I was unsure at first if it had merely been because they were further away, but by the sound of it, they were close, just simply lower grade.

Did they switch to AP rounds? What armor would they be firing at? We don't have tanks, and HE rounds would be far more effective at taking down the artillery installations. Are they just trying to penetrate the wall?

The muffled and quieter explosions continued, and then came to a sudden stop.

The 2nd volley already over? Just like that? What the hell?

It was unlike any Fire Nation firing pattern I'd ever observed before, seemingly far more deliberate rather than aimed to suppress us.

In the wake of it however, no more shells falling, the Earth Kingdom soldiers began taking their chances, starting to hurry towards the door, stumbling over fallen gear, one another, everything as I myself just hung back, looking around the room. There was the primary door that led outside, the one that soldiers were flocking to, the hall that led to the mess, now collapsed, and several windows, rather high, but accessible with enough effort.

I wondered who among us were Earth Benders, but judging by the sorry lack of any bending, I surmised none of us were, or at the very least, sober enough to bend.

It was around this point that the soldiers at the doorway began to cough, softly at first, descending soon into violent fits of them heaving their lungs out, hunched over against the door, sinking to their knees in the span of less than a minute, revealing now the cloud of hazy yellow gas rising from beneath the cracks.

What the hell?

It wasn't alone. From the windows too, this same mist was beginning to reveal itself. It was drawing in.

The men who had been coughing and wheezing were no longer making any noise. They were on the ground, silent, dead.

Poison gas.

The others had reached a similar understanding of their predicament and so only mass panic ensued. I'd never seen anything like this used in combat, and by the look of the men around me, neither had they. They were already reaching desperately for the windows up above, climbing onto whatever furniture they could. I myself was tracking the movement of the gas., watching as it settled lower to the ground.

It's heavier than air.

The soldiers who had gone for the windows were meeting little success, the gas that had flowed in now sinking right atop them as they tumbled off of their platforms to the ground in the midst of violent coughing fits.

The gas was spreading across the room as I found myself near the center with an ever-growing cluster of soldiers desperately seeking one escape or another while I merely attempted to keep my wits about me, my current plan, albeit a grim one, to outlast my comrades and blast my way out of here. I had my shirt beneath my armor raised to my face covering my nose and mouth, but no part of me expected it to truly be of good use.

It was spreading. We were trapped inside. Just need to outlast them. They were already entering their own fits of coughing around me, falling to their knees even as some attempting to cover their orifices as well. To little success, however.

And that was when I coughed. No. I held the cloth tighter to my face, forcing myself not to breathe in. I could only hold it for so long however, and another lungful entered inside of me. I coughed again, far more violently this time. I fell to my hands and knees.

It was the entire room. I looked around me. The others. They were mostly down. If I was going to do this, I had to do it now.

There was another explosion not far behind me. Close. Very close. I didn't have much time. I attempted to raise myself, just enough to get a view on the door. Just blast it open, and run. I raised a hand, but was suddenly interrupted by something that tugged me to the side, up as a matter of fact, hauling me to my feet.

I turned my head with what little energy I had to observe a horrifying figure wearing a sack over their face, tubes connected, going in and out at different points. What the hell?

I was being dragged away from the other fallen Earth Kingdom soldiers into the hallway, nearing what I now saw to be an opening in the wall away from the rubble, seemingly blasted open, leading further into the mess. I was still struggling for air, but at least found that the concentration of the gas was thinning, also helped by the fact that the figure was holding something to my face-a cloth that reeked of alcohol.

Me and the strange figure were past the rubble, into the mess hall, abandoned of the bodies from before, the table still lined with food and drink however. We continued to run, myself still panting for air as the individual, around my height, I noticed, turned to me, holding out a similar sack hood towards me. "Come on. Put this on."

The voice was muffled beneath the hood, but it felt familiar notwithstanding.

"Who-"

It was here, I suppose, figuring the quicker the answer was given, the quicker we could move on, that the hood was pulled up revealing Zare beneath it, hair in a bun, slicked back with sweat, an exhausted appearance on her face. How the hell?

"Zare?" I asked, quite confident that my shock was evident in the cracking of my voice alone. Or perhaps it'd been the poison that had achieved that effect. "How did you-"

"Questions later!" she yelled, pulling a strange piece of fabric out of the bag behind her. Another mask. "Put this on!"

Turning behind to witness the gas continue its approach, seeing as how I had little other option, I obeyed without hesitation, donning the hood as Zare reached behind her, removing a metallic canister reminding me of an artillery shell and reached behind me, opening my bag, and shoving it inside, the sound of it displacing an assortment of other goods I possessed in there reaching my ears. She ran one of the hoses of my mask to the cannister, securing it with a hiss, the sudden inflow of gas into the rebreather within the hood had me startles at first until I realized what it was. Oxygen.

"We shouldn't stick around here," she said, putting her own mask back on. "How much did you breathe in?"

"Not too much," I coughed, getting what I hoped to be the last of it out of my system. "What is this shit anyway?"

"Chlorine gas," she answered quickly, prompting me to wonder just now how the hell she knew this. I shook the question aside. Now wasn't the time for more paranoia.

"Hell's going on? Fire Nation?"

She nodded. "Gas shells. Came by complete surprise."

"Where are the others?"

"They weren't in there with you?"

I shook my head and she seemed at that moment suddenly relieved. "Oh." She breathed out a prolonged sigh of relief. "Oh good. I thought I'd left them behind in there."

She'd gone for me fir-no. I'd just been the closest and most easily recognizable.

"In that case," she continued, "I don't know. With any luck they weren't caught by the smoke or shells."

"And these masks?" Now daring to bed the question just how the hell she'd gotten her hands on such.

"The armory. It was right by my quarters. Hanief and Cholla are getting together the men who aren't drunk. They had these masks in the armory. Old tech, but useful."

By what she said, I already had the gut feeling it was Cholla who was taking charge.I had my doubts of Hanief's competency in light of last, or, hell, tonight's events.

She turned to me, a look of curiosity demonstrated by her positioning alone as certainly not by her non-existent face. "So what now?"

"You're asking me? It's you who just saved my ass."

"Well, and now it's up to you to do the same for me."

Were she not wearing a mask, I imagine I'd have noticed an amused smirk, but alas, such was shrouded by the breathing apparatus she wore, just standing there expectantly for an answer I did not possess in that moment.

"We should help with the artillery. That's the only way we're going to be able to hold off the Fire Nation. How many ships did they have?"

"Don't know. Didn't see."

Pity. It made little difference. One would already have been too many. The number didn't change the fact that the artillery was still are only chance, as slim as it was.

I nodded. "Alright. We get to the artillery. Hopefully, we find Gordez, Zek, and Ka'lira there."

The explosions had resumed outside. The bombardment was continuing. "We should stick inside the buildings and see how long we can go through them. By the sound of it, they just were using the gas to get people out in the open."

"Why the first bombardment though?"

"To wake us up, I guess?"

"Then why not just gas us while we were all asleep? Would have made their job a hell of a lot easier."

"They-" I didn't have an answer. She was right. It didn't make sense, but either way, it was the position we found ourselves in. I shook my head. "I don't know." I found myself hard-pressed to remember the number of troops that Hanief had stated were in the garrison. Around 500, I remembered. How many are still alive? "Doesn't matter," I said, closing both lines of thought.

She nodded, responding with, "Alright. Let's do this."

"And Zare," I said, right before I allowed her to already get to running off, prompting her to turn to face me out of interest.

"Thanks."

She nodded, myself wanting to believe there was a smile beneath that hood she adorned. She turned shortly after to leave towards the unobstructed exit from the mess.

Despite our present conditions, neither of us were in a rush. Well, we were, but were taking our advance one step at a time. The echo of shells falling around us, the gas slowly accumulating all the more within the building, now was a time were neither of us had any room to slip, fall, and puncture our protective gear. I was already battling an urge to adjust the neck on my hood as it was, needing to forcefully restrain my hand from fiddling with the air-tight neck restraint.

The corridors of stone stretched on, candles already extinguished, likely by the gas, I presumed. Dead bodies lined the halls-soldiers in uniform and out all in varying states of awareness of the danger they were in, some having their mouths mid-scream while other's rested peacefully against the wall, not a worry in the world.

"How did you get in?" I whispered, though why, I didn't know, just feeling that it was appropriate when surrounded by the dead, as though I was afraid I may wake them.

"Same way we're going now," she said in a hushed tone back, whether it was for the same reasons as me, or merely because I had done so, I wouldn't come to know.

So she had already come this way. Past the dead that now surrounded us.

She seemed to know what I was thinking and answered before I could ask. "I couldn't save everyone."

She had entered here with a conscious directive of who she had come to save. Among that list had been me, Zek, Gordez, and Ka'lira. And only I had been present. She had come here to save me. There were others she could have helped, and they were dead now.

Would I have done differently?

I looked at the face of a dead soldier, his eyes wide open, his mouth held agape, terrified, the last words to exit his lips likely either a cry for help, a call for his mother, a prayer, or a combination of all three.

No, I decided in spite of my grim circumstances. I know who I would have tried to save.

And if they were your countrymen? If they were Fire Nation?

Maybe, I admitted to myself. I had never before taken the life of a soldier from my own country. The explosions of artillery continued to thunder outside. Perhaps that would change today.

We followed the winding corridors, eventually coming to the exit of the building. It had been barred shut, furniture such as shelves and chairs stacked against it. Had the soldiers feared the falling shells and hostile infantrymen more than they had asphyxiation?

Bodies were clumped by the entrance, weak hands clutching to the corners of furniture in regretful efforts to free themselves of their own fortifications.

"I got inside while they were doing this."

"Why? Why did they lock themselves in?"

"They didn't know the gas had fallen. They wanted to hide."

"You didn't tell them?"

"You try telling drunken men to run out in a field of falling artillery."

"Sorry."

"It's fine," but the way in which she said it indicated such was far from the case. She felt the responsibility of it, seeing their bodies clumped against the floor in such a manner. She had already had this same conversation with herself. There was no need for her to run through it now all over again.

I helped her clear the barricades, pulling the different pieces of furniture away at a time. Chairs, shelves, armor racks, anything they'd used to try and prolong their own lines, ending up in having the complete adverse effect. Soon enough, the door was clear, and she was standing at it, ready to leave.

"So," she said. "How are we doing this? We get out there, and then what?"

"We get to the artillery pieces. That's probably where the Earth Kingdom has gathered. It's their only bet. With any luck the Fire Nation hasn't blown it to pieces yet."

"Do you think infantry has been deployed?"

"I don't hear any fighting outside, so I'd assume not, but it's better to be careful. You ready if they are?"

She motioned towards the bow on her back, a curious sense of confidence in how she did-no. No. That could wait for later. I myself had my swords, and then of course there was option B, but I had no intention of using that. Not here. Not in the center of an Earth Kingdom base. Assuming it was still in Earth Kingdom hands by the time we got out.

"And if the artillery is gone, they've deployed infantry, and the others are…gone. What then?"

"Then we improvise."

"Is that supposed to inspire confidence?" she quipped.

"No, it's supposed to get us to stop stalling in get to work."

She nodded, wondering how her face appeared beneath the mask, if she'd taken my comment as the quip I'd intended it, or if perhaps she'd been insulted. I guess I'd find out later. For now, there were more pressing concerns.

"Okay," she said. "I'll follow your lead."

I nodded. Let's pray this works.

Together, we pushed against the door leading outside, and stepped feet first into hell.

Gordez

The cannon fire was deafening.

I could barely see beyond the smoke of the rounds firing into the air.

Earth Kingdom soldiers around me struggled to loud the catapults, screaming into the smoke, past the gas, summoning the nearest Earth Bender to help them get loaded, begging for boulders, pitch, shells for the howitzer, it was chaos.

It was the chaos I knew.

"Catapults Bravo-1 and Delta-2!" I yelled. "Adjust Y by 15! Foxtrot-1! X by 5 and a half!"

"Hotel is out of ammo, sir!"

Damnit.

"What's going on here?" came a voice from behind me. I figured it must have been Cholla. There would have been no knowing for sure on account of the masks we wore had it not been for the rank emblem on his shoulder.

He's back.

And good thing too. Ever since he left to try and find any survivors who may have been trapped in the pantry, it had been me alone who had been trying to organize the artillery. I couldn't say for sure why he'd trusted me. Perhaps it had been that I seemed one of the few people who really knew his way around such things.

"Artillery is practically blind in the smoke and gas. We don't even know if we're scoring hits!"

"You're having them fire equidistant apart?"

"Yeah, but it won't be enough! They've already got us zeroed in and I doubt we're going to be able to get a read on whether we're hitting them or not by the time our artillery is wiped out."

"Is the gun still operational?"

The whistling of a shell suddenly struck my ears. Oh no.

"Get down!" I wasn't sure if it had been me who yelled it, or Cholla, or one of the other dozen soldiers in my immediate vicinity. All I knew was that I had my face to the ground within seconds, thankful for the mask or I'd be rising with a mouthful of dirt.

Was the gun still alright?

I rose to my feet quick enough, helped by Cholla who had already risen by the time I'd once again gained a bearing on my surroundings. Had he even ducked?

"Foxtrot-A is down!"

And the cannon? Cholla's voice echoed in my head. Or maybe that was just the ringing of the explosion. I checked either way. The gun was still there, seemingly untouched.

"Yes sir," I panted, still winded from tossing myself to the ground. "But I can't say for how long. Artillery is coming damn close."

He nodded. "Have them move the artillery gun back up the hill closer to the wall. Get them out of those ships' firing zone!"

"What about the catapults?! They'll be sitting ducks!"

"The catapults won't do anything to breach their hulls! The most they're doing is suppressing their gunner right now! Only the howitzer will be able to punch through their hulls! Now get it up that hill!"

"Yes sir!"

"And keep those catapults firing! We need to buy time!"

"But the gunners-"

"Do it!"

I was thankful for the masks then. I wasn't sure if it was because I feared the reveal of the cold determination in his eyes, or the fear in mine.

I turned back to the firing rows; the catapults that were already being torn apart. For every catapult gone, our suppression field was waning, and soon, their barrage would continue in force. We don't have a lot of time.

I didn't risk yelling the retreat for the gun. Doing so would only make the other gunners realize they were being abandoned. I'd get the gun up first, then get the others off of the catapults.

"Get the gun up the hill," I told the gunners who were in the process of loading another round.

"Are we retreating?" they asked dumbfounded, as indicated by the question rather than the nonexistent face.

"Just get it up, now!"

"Yes, sir!"

They were too terrified even to question my orders. It didn't surprise me. If I wanted them to question my orders, my authority, I'd order them to charge forward.

I turned to watch as they ascended the hill, beyond the battlements that were being occupied by scattered groups of Earth kingdom soldiers, most of them still bearing the marks of the night prior, only being shaken into sobriety to have it replaced by instant terror.

They just had to be drinking?

I wondered if this was what every night had been like here. Without the artillery bombardment, of course. Hanief had make a talking point of the cellar and how it was packed to the brim with booze. I suppose it had only been a matter of time until an incident like this transpired. Shame it had to be the exact night we were around.

I turned in time to see a ball of flame beyond the gray of smoke and the yellow of the gas that appeared to be thinning thanks to the explosions of the shells, ironically enough. Less in favor to us, however, the explosion had claimed another catapult as indicated by the yelling of "Charlie C is down!"

"So is Bravo 2!"

Damnit. I turned back to the artillery gun, continuing its slow ascent up the hill. The artillery was picking up. Damnit!

I turned back around, able to witness where the majority of shells were landing, near the center of the beachhead. It must be the center warship. That's the one doing the firing.

"All batteries!" I exclaimed, loudly enough fortunately to catch the ear of the gunners who turned to me. "Firing grid 5 Delta! Suppressive fire on the center of the mist!"

They were in no position to disobey. They saw my orders as a chance to save their own skins. They took it. The catapults turned slowly. Too slowly. Another two were destroyed in the process of turning to launch shots at their adversary, the resolve of the other artillery crew wavering in the process. The process of turning had allowed them to see the retreating howitzer. And something inside the postures of the few I notice allowed me to see something within them shatter. They knew. They knew they were only buying time. They knew this was suicide.

They were on the verge of breaking, and I knew no word I could utter would keep them there, and I assume that's why it would be Cholla who spoke up, yelling to his men, most of whom were now in position, "Men! The enemy is in your sights! For the Earth King, for the Earth Kingdom, rain hell!"

And what else could they do? The catapults that were already loaded and prepped were fired as new ones loaded and fired. The shots were panicked, misfired, off-target, but they served their purpose for the few seconds that they could, buying time.

It wasn't enough.

It would never be enough.

Another catapult went up in flames from a Fire Nation shell that had been midair when our own barrage had begun.

Our first volley achieved what it had aimed to do. Their fire stopped, their own gunners likely having sought cover. It wouldn't last. They could load their guns quicker than we could, but we had to try.

"Fire again!" Cholla exclaimed. There was no point lining up the shots. We weren't going for kills. We were buying time.

And so we did, and just enough. I turned back. The artillery gun was within the walls.

"Abandon positions!" I called out. "Retreat back to the wall!"

The men were all too eager to do so, especially as the Fire Nation had noticed we were done. Their volley had arrived, capturing in it 2 more catapults with their full crews as well as a number of other retreating soldiers.

"All men!" Cholla exclaimed, blowing twice on a whistle in a form of code I was sure his men would understand. "Retreat to the wall! Inside, now!"

They hadn't needed to be here in the first place, simply hiding in dugouts, near barricades, destined to accomplish nothing beyond absorbing shrapnel, and so they had no qualms in their retreat, rushing amidst falling artillery to get back beyond the wall.

The retreat was assisted by Earth Bender personnel, manifesting walls before themselves to absorb incoming shells, some of which were more successful than others, saving lives, while others were merely debris by which even more lives were lost.

The smoke of our own catapults was beginning to clear just in time for us to see the next volley of shells come straight for us, most landing short, tearing apart the remaining catapults and battlements that had housed soldiers only a few moments ago.

The beachhead had been cleared. Not all had made it off. It was to be expected. A number of men were being left behind, dead, or half-dead, still crawling towards us, but we could now see the Fire Nation cruisers emerging from the fog over the Nip. There was nothing we could do. The gates were shut before us. There's nothing we can do.

The gas was beginning to clear. It could only linger for so long after all and it was beginning to give way. That wasn't to say, however, than anybody was particularly eager to remove their masks.

Cholla was quick to making an effort to recover the situation, calling out, "Get the cannon set up. Target set to arc over the wall. We'll rain hell down on their navy!"

"Captain Cholla!" a voice came from behind us, prompting him to turn back to face it.

It was Hanief. Of course. "What are you doing here?! You're supposed to be securing the beachhead!"

"The beachhead is lost, sir! Their artillery is bearing down on us too hard!"

"You just paved the way for their infantry to land, Captain!" The Commander, drunk, be it on alcohol or power, I couldn't tell, turned to his men, just having barely escaped the beach with their lives, exhausted, on the verge of collapse, and he addressed them. "Soldiers! Grab bows and grab Earth! Onto the walls! Do not let the enemy advance!"

"Sir!" Cholla interrupted. "The artillery will rip them apart!"

"Are you suggesting we sit here, Captain? Wait for them to storm through those walls and kill us all?"

"No, sir, but we'll accomplish nothing by throwing away men!"

My focus on their exchange was interrupted by a familiar voice calling from behind me, "Gordez!"

Zek!

I turned to face him, the joy in seeing him still unhurt replaced by the sudden concern in realizing he was alone and Luke, Ka'lira, and Zare were still unaccounted for. "Where are the others?!" I asked.

"I was hoping they were with you. Damnit!"

"Ka'lira wasn't with you?" I asked, surprised, less so about Zare and Luke.

He shook his head, the concern evidently rising to his face.

"Zek! Gordez!" We both turned. Even beyond the masks, I could recognize the statures of Luke and Zare. Still no Ka'lira.

"Oh Good. We thought you two were dead!" Zek exclaimed.

"Never," Luke scoffed in response.

The joy in seeing the pair return could only last so long however, replaced by fear and anxiety once again as Zek asked, "Have you seen, Ka'lira!" and the two merely responded with Luke stating, "I thought she was with you" and Zare affirming, "I didn't see her at our quarters.

"Damnit!" Zek declared before shaking his head and already setting off into a half trot near the center of the fortress.

"Zek!" I called after him, every part of me reluctant to let him just run off so soon after we'd barely found one another. Not all of us. His eyes faced mine, pleadingly. I understood. How could I not? He knew what he needed to do, and so did I. "Be careful."

He nodded, running off in the opposite direction.

It was around now that we noticed the shells had stopped falling. They were likely beginning to land troops now.

"You!" Hanief's voice rang out from behind us. His mask was off, the grotesque features of his foolish and gluttonous face glistening in the torchlight as he barked at us. "You three! Get up there on the walls! Now!

Luke and I were quick enough to follow along with what the man was saying, but it was Zare who held the two of us back, calling out to Hanief, "Sir! They may be attempting to flank us!"

"The enemy is on the beach, kid! Not behind us! Now get on the wall and kill those ash makers!"

There was no point arguing. Zare saw that as well, and so begrudgingly, the 3 of us advanced towards the wall, ready to make our stand there, buy whatever time Zek would need to find Ka'lira. Then, well, then maybe we could try to escape with our lives. Xiahu was a lost cause. That much was apparent.

We were mid ascending the stairs leading to the top of the wall when we then heard the horn echo across the night air, silencing all else, all artillery, all explosions, all yelling. It blared again, and the eyes of all those could hear turned to face its source.

And there, in the distance, atop a far hill, six silhouettes or Komodo Rhinos bearing riders atop them.

Oh no.

The horn blared one last time.

Things were about to get far worse.

Luke

Over the years, I had heard hundreds of stories about the Rough Rhinos.

Never once had they been the same.

In the slums of Citadel, they were a myth, a name to be thrown around akin to the grim reaper, a warning, a threat, however one pleased to use it. Nobody believed them to be real, now that I thought about it. The name, however, had been spoken enough that it had taken a power in itself even if nobody knew from where that power came.

In the inner city, they were the stuff of legend, heroes. Younger children carried around toys of them as they walked, made them fight miniature versions of one another or Earth Kingdom soldiers in elaborately arranged displays of juvenile imagination. It was Yeh-Lu, I believe, that I saw most in action figure format, something about the menacing helm he bore never ceasing to inspire awe in the hearts and minds of young Fire Nation children.

In the army, they were detested. Rogues, vagabonds, little more than raiders. I believe the common referral to them was that they were "sons of bitches, but they're our sons of bitches."

As of late, however, they were not myth. They were not legend. They were not even detested. They were feared. If there was a town that had gone off the radar, a caravan that had met a grizzly end, a pile of bodies that now lay where civilization once had, it was commonly believed that the Rhinos were associated one way or another.

We'd been in their wake for the last few weeks, seeing the scars on the Earth they left behind, praying our paths didn't meet, praying that we wouldn't need to verify the existence of these objects of myth, legend, hatred, or fear.

And now, they were right before us.

If we hadn't seen them, we definitely had heard them-the 3 horn blare announcing their presence to the dismal assortment of desperate survivors that still inhabited the Xiahu military base.

From where we were, it was only shadows we could observe atop that hill, but we knew. A smaller unit than a Fire Nation cavalry unit, a bigger one than a scouting party. They were none of the above. They were the real deal. And they were heading directly towards us.

None of us could bear to utter a word. It was dead silent. Our artillery had ceased firing, as had the Fire Nations' apparently as they paved the way for their true force to charge directly into us.

The first words that broke the silence were those that were spoken directly to me, Zare's words just barely audible above a whisper. "We need to run."

"It's-"

"We need to go. Now."

I allowed myself to be deceived for the briefest of moments as Cholla ordered men to the walls, armed with bows and shards of Earth alike. The wall will hold them. The soldiers will hold them. They have to.

The soldiers were atop the wall, ready to face the threat storming down the hill, torches attached to their beasts lighting the way. This wasn't about stealth. This was about fear. And I'd been foolish enough to let that fear for the brief moment that they disappeared behind the wall, and the Earth Kingdom soldiers, possessing only one singular purpose opened fire. I actually let myself believe, for a single second, that everything would work out.

But the second after that, assisted by Zare's words, they reminded me of the truth. No. Those men. They will be dead within seconds.

And sure enough, only a second later, the Rhinos were atop the wall. 3 of them. One on each flank and one in the center, guiding the way.

There had been at least 20 Earth Kingdom soldiers atop the wall, and not 10 seconds later, they had all been cut or burned through. Only a second after that, a ball of fire erupted where the wall had been, and out of the smoke came pouring 6 more Komodo rhinos, 3 bearing rhinos, the rest empty for but a moment longer until their masters leaped from atop the wall back onto their beasts of burden, charging straight towards us, splitting into 3 routes. They were going to surround us.

I shook my head. Just like that? It was going to be over just like that.

"Soldiers are landing on the beach!" came a voice from atop the wall.

"Adjust the gun to fire on the beachhead now!"

The gun, however, was unmanned. The corpses of the men lay at the foot of the gun, one of whom found himself split at the midsection, entrails painting the dirt beneath him a deep crimson, reflecting the glare of the fires that raged around the fortress. At his side was his companion, face beat to a pulp, myself struggling to make out just which way his head would be facing were it still in one piece. Above the dead crews' mutilated corpses, one of the Rough Rhinos stood tall, a weapon that was half warhammer and half axe gripped tightly in his hands, bearing the fresh blood of its last prey. He was staring at us, sizing up his next targets, his eyes a vivid yellow, or perhaps that was just the mirror-image of the fire that now dominated our surroundings, but they were bloodthirsty one way or another, the dominating feature on his hardened face.

We were surrounded. The wall was breached. The gun was lost. The only option was clear. And what an option it was.

"Get to the ships!" Cholla declared. "Now, Damnit!"

"No!" Hanief retorted, further away from the crowd, his entourage already in tow in the midst of his own privatized retreat. "Hold the line, Captain! We cannot let-"

Where his neck had been, completely untouched, him just so, now spurt out a pool of blood as a rider came past, a bloodied guandao at his side, turning in time to see his quarry fall to his knees, his entourage already dead, killed by the trampling of the rhino, not even given the dignity to die by a blade rather than by a ravenous beast.

Hanief stood there a while longer, the shock in his eyes indicating that he still did not understand what had just transpired. He learned soon enough however when he brought his hand up to his neck, returning it to his line of sight, soaked in blood, the sudden realization in his eyes the last expression he would make before collapsing to his knees, and promptly completely to the ground where his life would pain the field as long as he still had any blood left to give.

The Rough Rhino nodded, satisfied to himself as he lifted his head away from his quarry, and towards us. He was bald, but possessed a thick brown beard that he wore as a braid. He was standing between us and the armory, the direction in which Hanief had attempted to flee.

He's dead. The commander is dead. The chain of command-

It was obvious to everyone who had seen the man cut down before them. "All men!" Cholla yelled now again, unopposed. "Retreat to the ships!"

There was no argument to be had. 'Retreat' was the word at the top of every man's mind at this point in time anyway. Who in the right mind would dare argue?

But Zek, and Ka'lira. They were still back there, cut off from us.

I felt a hand grab at my wrist, finding it to be Gordez, tugging me along towards the direction the others were fleeing in. "Come on!" he yelled.

"Save yourself first! We have to go!"

A barricade of Earth was bent between us and the two Rough Rhinos, granting us the luxury of a few seconds to begin our retreat. The effort was destined to only disturb them rather than stop them. They were around in no time, Cholla wasting not a second to order a contingent of his men to stay behind and buy us time.

I only had to turn but a few seconds later to find them in the midst of cutting down the soldiers. There was no effort from it. It was a game to them, and they were enjoying ourselves, but it was buying us time, time to go around between the wall and the barracks along the path that led to the docks.

The ships were there, 2 to be exact, by some miracle having not yet been fired upon. I suppose we had the mist to thank for that, shrouding them in contrast to the rest of the seaside fortress.

The soldiers were being loaded aboard at Cholla's request. Only aboard one by the looks of it. Cholla was putting all of his eggs in one basket. Did he plan on using the other as a decoy?

Zek still isn't here.

"Gordez," I pleaded, turning to him where he was by my side. I tore off my mask, the gas in the air gone by now, daring him to look me in the eyes while forbidding me to go back for our friends. Our family.

"Get on!" he demanded, I would say unphased, but no part of him was happy about his order.

"Not without the Zek and Ka'lira!"

"I'll find them!" he answered.

"Like hell are you going alone!"

"Luke!"

"Gordez!" It wasn't my voice that called out, nor was it Zare, or sadly Zek or Ka'lira. Rather it was Cholla. "I need you on the gun aboard the ship."

"No can do!" Gordez simply yelled back before turning his attention back to me.

"Gordez!" Cholla called back at him, but my old friend paid him no mind.

"I'll get them back, Luke."

"They need you on the gun," I retorted. "None of us are getting out of here if you don't."

"Luke!"

"Do you trust me."

He hesitated. I suppose I had to take that as a compliment. It would have been easier for him to say no, to just turn me down right there and then, but he knew this had to be done, and he knew where he was needed.

I didn't have time to wait for an answer. "I'll get them back." I had to. "I promise."

Gordez closed his eyes. He knew he couldn't argue. If he didn't do what he had to, we would all meet out ends here. He nodded. "Go. And get the hell back here. We're about to leave. I'll have Cholla hold the ship as long as I can."

I nodded and turned to leave. The rush the soldiers were in, I knew the time I had to fetch my friends wouldn't be long. "I'm coming too!" came Zare's voice from behind me. I didn't have time to argue before she was already hot on my heels. It would have taken long to dismiss her than to simply accept her company anyway, and so the two of us found ourselves dashing straight back into hell.

"The armory!" I called behind me to Zare. "Only place they can be!"

Not all Earth Kingdom soldiers had been able to rally under Cholla's orders. A good many, deemed not worth the time and manpower to go back and recover, now fought for their lives in a field flooding with Fire Nation personnel, proper infantry having already destroyed the rear gate and now flooding in.

Zare pulled me aside, out of the way of the path we had taken in, instead directing me towards the stairway that would lead up atop the walls. I didn't disagree. It was certainly the far safer alternative, though it wouldn't last. We'd be more than visible, and it would only be a matter of time before we started taking incoming fire.

We made the most of the situation as we could, however. We sprinted atop the walls while, to our right, 3 Fire Nation battlecruisers still sat perfectly still, facing the crumbling fortress, one more well-placed barrage guaranteed to reduce everything to rubble, and below us, to our left, meager Earth Kingdom infantry was being torn apart, be it by the far better organized Fire Nation army or the ravenous Rough Rhinos, me turning just in time to watch as a chunk of one soldier's face was torn off by a well-placed swing of a meteor hammer wielded by a man of dark complexion and bearing the traditional garb of an engineer.

I avoided thinking on just who the hell these Rhinos were as we continued sprinting along the top of the wall.

Scattered cries indicated we'd been spotted, and it wasn't long until arrows and bolts of fire began being thrown our way. We were lucky enough to have always sprinted the majority of the wall's length, now descending behind the stone structure of the armory that hostile soldiers would be rounding at any moment.

Raava, please have there be a back entrance.

We turned a corner of the building, sure enough finding a maintenance entrance, but right beside it, 2 Fire Nation soldiers who had just turned the corner as well.

It was hard to tell who had been more prepared, me or them, but our blades-my shortsword and one of their own clashed with an ear-shattering clang of steel. I drew back, pushing away from our lock just in time to avoid the thrust of the spear of the second. Both men now turned to face me, a poor decision on their part as one suddenly recoiled in pain to find Zare's dagger lodged into the small of his back.

The assault on his ally captured the attention of the swordsman, providing me the opening to bring my sword into a slice along his leg, cutting between the armor plates, sending him to the ground with a scar and embarrassing story to write home about.

The second whom Zare had stabbed was still reaching behind himself to dislodge the object from his back. He was unable to react before the hilt of my sword collided with the side of his face in a bloody squelch, exiling him to a state of unconsciousness in an instant.

I looked down at the bodies. They'll live.

"Watch out!" Came Zare's voice from my side. I turned to see another Fire Nation soldier, no, a Firebender emerge from the corner, ethereal weapon in hand, ready to strike before he suddenly collapsed to a knee, the flame dissipating in his hand. Zare rushed forward, treating her bow now as a bludgeoning weapon, sending it smashing along the man's helmet, sending him to the ground, rendered unconscious by the blow. He was mid-descent as Zare, in couth fashion, effortlessly removed the arrow from his knee, returning it to her quiver, turning back now to face me.

Without effort.

Her mask now removed, I had the privilege of seeing her green eyes, partially hidden by the disheveled auburn bun she wore, her face, where it may have been fear and guilt before at having shown her hand, now showed only grim acceptance. There was no time to hold back.

I nodded. We can deal with this later.

I tried the door that left inside, finding it locked, and took a step back before charging it with a foot immediately directed towards the lock, successful in snapping it and sending the door flinging aside.

Zare shut it closed behind us, but the hinges were already snapped. It wouldn't shut, but it was better than nothing, possibly able to elude the unobservant soldier for a few vital moments.

"Where were your quarters?!" I yelled between breaths, knowing they had been set up in an abandoned storeroom in the armory.

She was still familiarizing herself with this entryway, clearly not having entered or left via the back entrance before, but she adjusted quickly, stating, "Down that hall at the right I think!"

There was no time to question her judgement call, and so I followed down the abandoned corridor, past the bodies of Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation soldiers alike.

Please be alive, Zek, Ka'lira. Both of you, please be alive.

"Right again!" Zare called out, now taking the lead, and I followed, sword in hand, ready to rush ahead of her if the need arose.

My heart jumped at the sight of him there. Zek was standing in the hallway, uninjured by the look of him. Where's Ka'lira?

"Zek! What the hell are you doing?!"

He turned his head towards me. "Luke?" he asked, half-dazed by the sound and sight of him.

"Where's Ka'lira?!"

"She's-she's inside," he turned his head towards the door that I assumed to be her and Zare's quarters. "She won't come out!"

What the hell? I made no effort to hide the scowl that rose to my face. There wasn't any time for this. Every second we wasted here was putting us all at risk, damnit!

I shoved past Zek making my way to her door despite his attempts to warn me otherwise. I wouldn't have them. I slammed my fist on the door hard enough that I could feel it splintering where my hand collided, the outcome of shoddy craftsmanship.
Ka'lira!" I yelled out. "We have to go. Now!"

There was a silence. "Just go!" she called out.

"The Fire Nation is here, damnit! They're going to kill us all!"

"Then get out of here! Leave me here!"

What the hell? I pounded on the door again. "Damnit, Ka'lira. Get the hell out of there. We have to go!" I turned to Zek. "Get her the fuck out of there!"

"I tried!"

Zare was at the door now, nudging me aside, and she knocked, softer than either of us had. "Ka'lira?" she asked out. "You there?"

"Zare?" the woman's voice came back. "You shouldn't be here, you shouldn't."

"Please. Just open the door. I need to see you're okay."

Another silence followed, just quiet enough for me to hear movement within the building. We're running out of time.

There was a click from the door, and the knob turned, the door opening ever so slightly for Ka'lira to reveal herself. It was enough. In a feat that neither Zek nor I had been expecting, Zare flung the door away from the exhausted-seeming Ka'lira and gripped her by the collar of her shirt with the other, yanking her outside.

"No!" the woman yelped while Zare ordered either me or Zek to grab her.

I was closer, and so it fell on me to do so despite the woman's thrashing and yelling at us to stop. If the Fire Nation didn't know where we were before, the sure as hell did now. "Come on!" ordered Zare, heading out in front of us. "There's another exit this way, I think."

I followed along, maintain a grip on Ka'lira as her thrashing died down, replaced with her nearly going limp, forced to drag her along, Zek stumbling along behind. What the fuck is going on?! I wondered to myself, asking just what the hell it was between these two that had nearly gotten us killed.

Voices were nearing behind us. I don't know if we'd turned the corner into a separate hallway quickly enough to evade their line of sight, but the voices were drawing all the closer.

I saw the exit Zare spoke of, still closed. If my orientation was correct, it would be on the building's South side, not directly facing the battlefield, but certainly in line of sight. Exit from this way, the only worse suicide would be the main entrance. We wouldn't make it like this. Not when their attention would be on all sides of the building.

"Wait!" I called out quietly enough to only be heard by our assortment of runaway as Zare's hand drifted to the knob. "They'll see us leaving. We won't get anywhere going that way."

"Well, we can't turn back! We'll have to take our chances."

I knew what I'd have to do. Whether I'd get out alive, that was something else, but it was the only way as far as I could see that we wouldn't all die here.

"No," I countered, letting go of my grip on Ka'lira. She managed to retain her own footing luckily enough, but still seemed completely out of it. "Get yourselves to the ship. I'll distract them."

"Like hell you will!" countered Zare.

"They'll slaughter you!" Zek chimed in, suddenly brought back to life by the seeming realization of everything around him.

"I have a few tricks up my sleeve." The comment, as I expected, fell on Zare's deaf ears, but Zek understood well enough. He submitted, the act of doing so seemingly disgusting Zare who was now appalled by him giving up on fighting so soon. He wasn't giving up. He knew. If anyone had a chance of doing this alone, it was me. "Wait two minutes, then go!"

"What happens in 2 minutes!?" Zare asked, still confused about everything around her.

"You run!" I responded, having no time to spare, already turning around to leave. The voices were drawing closer to the corner. I couldn't be on this side when everything went down. There was nothing more to say despite the muffled voices behind me as I rushed forward, praying I could turn the corner before they emerged. The footsteps were close, the voices had stopped, they knew they were near.

We'd be face to face the moment I turned that corner.

And so, charging forward as fast as I could, I did turn that corner first, and came face to face with them. They hadn't been ready. They hadn't expected this—a suicide charge. And they certainly didn't expect the blast of fire that emerged from my hands.

Those in the hallway, be it by the blast or desperation to get out of the line of fire, scattered to either side of the hallway as I dove through, conjuring a ring of fire in my wake, sprinting beyond those had been present, now finding themselves either warding off the flames consuming them or struggling to rise.

It won't kill them. I was merely attempting to draw their attention. And at that, I had succeeded. They had forgotten all about their original target. Their eyes were on me now, the limited number of them to rise already in the midst of pursuing me.

The rest of the hallway was empty as I sprinted through the stone confines. I need to get outside. Need to draw the attention of the rest.

Then what?

One thing at a time.

I returned to the intersection of hallway that Zare had guided me through before, now turning right to take the straight path that would take me into the armor and the main entrance.

2 Fire Nation soldiers, unaware of what was transpiring, encountered me there, simply guarding the door. I had no doubt that they had not expected me in the slightest, and so it was a simple matter to down the two of them with a single arc of fire that knocked both to the ground.

I found myself panting once I was back into a fighting stance. I was rusty. I hadn't practiced in too long. Shades of blue no longer danced in my flames. And as rusty as I may have felt, there was more to it than that. There was control, life flowing through me, it felt good.

And it was a good thing it did. I was outside the main door, and as I expected, they were waiting.

Infantry, archers, benders, and 2 rhinos.

Fuck.

I only had time to notice one of the Rhinos, a man with a traditional Fire Nation topknot, an ornate beard, and 2 ear piercing before an arrow seared along my left shoulder, only not penetrating my heart by my last-minute noticing of it.

The shot had been intended to kill, I realized as I looked ahead of me at the army of soldiers ahead.

I noticed the second Rhino, a Yuyan archer by the look of him, explaining the expert shot. The infantry had their weapons raised, the archers were nocking arrows, the firebenders preparing blasts aimed directly towards me, and I considered, in those vital half seconds, my options. I could dash to the wall, retreat back inside, but those would lead the enemy to the others. I could charge ahead, but I'd die before I could buy any proper time. Then there was the pantry to my right. Cover. Minimal, but still cover. From there, well, I'd worry about that if I got there.

I had one trick up my sleeve for them, and it was one that the soldiers within the armory knew of, but the assortment out here was still unaware of. I took the chance while I still had it.

I bent a wave of fire, letting it dance across the ground in grow in size as it dashed towards the firing squad ahead of me. Soldiers reared, archers lowered their arrows, but the Rhinos remained unphased, a blast of firing heading directly towards me in conjunction with an arrow that both narrowly missed me, landing in the selfsame spot that I'd stood in half a second ago.

I dashed to the wooden pantry, sliding behind cover, lowering to a ground just in time for the top half to be reduced to flying splinters lit ablaze.

The spectacle was cause enough to move again, a destination still unknown to me as I emerged from cover and shot a blast of fire directly towards the Yuyan archer, knowing it was him I needed to concern myself with most. I could deflect fire. Arrows, now so much.

I realized then I had been overconfident about my ability to handle the man's flames as the first of which, despite my effort to ward it away from me, sent me to the ground in a roll as I struggled to regain my footing.

The stables!

I dashed forward, kicking another blast of fire towards the pair, preventing them from firing their next volley as I fled behind the stable. A horn blared. The others were coming.

It took only a second for me to turn and see that the stable was already ablaze, the animals within realizing their predicament and erupting in horrified screams as some were consumed by the flames and others yelped in preparation of their fate.

They hadn't been released.

I threw myself into the burning stable, intent on not hanging behind. I didn't enter out of intent to free the animals, or rather, I did, but not for something as simplistic as it being the 'right thing' to do. I unsheathed Danev's dagger, cutting through the ropes tethering the animals as I stalked through the burning stable, warding the flames around me.

As I proceeded through, animals fled, now freed, some already ablaze, and while I felt pity for the poor creatures, such was not my concern. I needed the distraction. I could see as the animals fled the stable, scattering in every which way.

That'll- My thoughts were interrupted by the sudden shadow that rose on the support beam ahead of me. A shadow that wasn't mine. Oh shit.

I ducked, and the support beam ceased to exist as it was cleanly cut through above me, flaming splinters falling atop me and to the ground as I turned to see the axeman there, a dark black beard littered in embers standing out the most to me as he stood above me. I stumbled back, just barely avoiding the falling hammer end of his weapon as it crashed to the ground.

I just barely regained my footing as his hand found my back, a massive fist clenching me there. His grip, while strong, was insecure, granting me still enough movement to twist and turn, a directed kick sending an arc of fire into his arm. Rather than simply dropping me as I'd hoped, he practically tossed me as though I weighed little more than a hand weight, sending me flying through a flaming wall into the second half of the stable where more animals still waited for their turn at freedom. No time.

I stumbled through the stable, knife in hand, turning behind me to see as the man stepped through the hole he had made in the wall by throwing me, stepping through the flames as though they were nothing.

Who the hell are these people?

He was already directly behind me before I could think otherwise, and in an act of desperation, I cut through the harness of yet another ostrich horse, sending it loose directly behind me.

The poor beast was practically cut in half then by the swing of the axe that had been meant for me. In a fashion that, while grizzly, was helpful to me, the blade of the axe lodged itself in the ribcage of the animal, giving me the opportunity to truly regain my balance and flee, sending another kick of fire towards the man, turning before I could see the fruits of my labor as the stable was collapsing around me.

Please kill him, please kill him!

The world outside of the stable was hardly an improvement. Soldiers were flocking to intercept me, and I could already see the shadow of two more approaching Rhinos.

Their attention is certainly on me, at least.

The primary building of the fortress was near, the way there offered cover by tenement housing aimed at providing shelter for passing caravans and for servants. At this moment, though, they had no other purpose than to shield me from flying arrows and blasts of fire that soon began alighting the world around me once again.

Fire Nation soldiers moved through the alleys between the simple wooden shacks to intercept me, one receiving a knife in his knee, the other being sent to the ground with a fiery fist to his chest, myself fleeing all the while, not turning back to check on them, wanting to think I hadn't killed them.

I was nearly at the barracks now, fleeing towards the same door Zare and I had emerged from not long ago. So close.

I felt a searing pain rise from my back of my right calf, midway between my knee and foot. I already knew I'd been shot, but dared not investigating, using all adrenaline I had to push myself further, regardless of the appearance of the man I knew to be Yeh-Lu, the gleam of the fire reflecting blindingly off of that crimson helm that was the eye candy of so many a young boy.

I only had time to notice the ignition of two of his trademarked grenades before I dived into the barracks, landing at such an angle that forced the arrow deeper into my leg. Damnit!

I rose, seeing as how I was immediately in front of a wide-open entryway and immediately raced to shut the doors, barely managing to do so and bar it before the approaching horde of infantry reached it. Try fitting your rhinos in here, fuckers!

I took the brief second of respite to lean over and snap the rear end of the arrow off, not deigning to remove it as such would take too long and only get the blood flowing.

It was well enough I didn't take my time as the door was already being blown apart by blasts of fire, a helmeted Firebender revealing himself just beyond the door, casus belli enough for me to fire a ball of flame towards him and the door, shattering the rest, I was sure, and hopefully temporarily dispatching him along with it.

I fled down the halls I'd traversed through with Zare what had likely only been minutes ago, but had felt like hours. The bodies still lay there, just as dead as they'd been when last I checked. The foots were rising behind me, and a moment's glance allowed me to see the assortment of soldiers hot on my tails, the same engineer-looking Rhino from earlier leading them.

Damnit!

I turned, tossing a firebomb towards the cluster of soldiers, only effective in warding off the soldiers who were thrown aside by the blast, but doing little to stop the Rhino and the reserve force of Firebenders who followed behind him. He was using the infantry as a meat shield to protect the firebenders.

I grimaced but kept on running, praying there was another exit somewhere, anywhere, but before I knew it, I was back at the entrance of the barracks.

I'd gained some distance on my pursuers, but only minimally. They were close behind, I knew that much, and I was trapped in the barracks.

No. I shook my head. I'd bought enough time, sure, but still, I didn't want to die here.

I heard them behind me. They'd reached the rubble and were working their way past it.

Damnit!

I turned to fire a second firebomb at the soldiers, seemingly only firebenders passing through, the Rhino likely not intent on letting himself be the first to take the blow.

And effective it was as the first firebender to try and pass through met nearly the full brunt of my attack, sending him barreling against the rubble, thankful, I was sure, for his armor that would likely save his life, but just barely.

I could only hold my own for so long. They knew this much, and a second wave was passing through, one I just barely deterred with a stream of fire that forced them back through to the other side.

I looked around me, trusting the flames to only deter the passing soldiers for a few seconds longer. The bodies of dead Earth Kingdom soldiers littered the floor, myself recognizing some of the faces that I'd seen just earlier this night as they'd choked on their last breaths around me, remembering as they did all they could-ran, begged, screamed, climbed-climbed!

I looked up to the window, remembering the soldiers who had attempted to escape through there only to find it yet another entry point for the gas. Such was no longer an issue, however. I turned back to the rubble. The Rhino was done playing. He was emerging through along with 2 other firebenders.

I turned to face the window, taking a few steps back. I knew what I had to do. I knew it was possible. I had never tried it, I had never seen it done, but I knew the basic principle. I just needed enough power to propel me upwards.

A burst of fire singed my right arm as it narrowly went beyond me.

Now or never.

I took one last step back and rushed forward, the clattering of the moon hammer behind me providing that extra bit of adrenaline needed to make that jump and force all parts of me-hands, feet, arms, leg, mind, heart, and most importantly, breath, to dedicate themselves to this move.

I felt the fire leave me, the heat unmistakable, and felt no ground return to meet me. I was in the air, mid-jump. The propulsion of the blast, much like how I'd used it to slow my falls before, now lifted me into the air, towards the window.

I was going to come short. No. I reached forward, just barely catching the edge with my right hand. I gasped in surprise. Don't celebrate too soon. You're not up yet.

I turned my head to see the Fire Nation soldiers still below me. I pivoted my torso to afford my left arm a shot at them. I went wide, but was enough to discourage them from carrying out their shots as they ducked to avoid the blast.

The Rhino was less deterred, and despite not being a firebender, he seemed the most capable of stopping me here. He bounded towards me, leaped atop a table, using it to rise to the top bunk of a bed, providing him a worrying height from which he could jump at me from, and so he did, moon hammer in hand, already mid throw.

If it struck me, I knew there would be no way to maintain my grip.

It was a moment's decision, but it was all I had. Using my left hand, I desperately unsheathed the shortsword from my side and threw it towards the Rhino. It did not strike him, no, but it did what it had to do, intercepting his weapon, knocking it aside, myself just barely able to, out of the corner of my eye, catch the sight of him landing on the ground, empty-handed without his quarry, a glare painting his eyes.

I was sure he was readying another throw, but it mattered little to me. I had brought my left arm to the windowsill and lifted myself to get above and over, already dropping to the other side of the building near the wall.

No enemies awaited me below. I turned to my right, seeing the same path that led towards the ships. I wasted no time, knowing the alert would be raised that I was out, and sure enough, a horn blared.

Please be back already, I prayed to nobody in particular. Zek, Ka'lira, Zare, please have made it.

I was sprinting as fast as I could. There were yells behind me. I ignored them. The alley was too narrow for the rhinos to pass through. They'd have to circle the entire building first, but judging by the sound of it, they weren't far off.

The dock was in sight. The right ship was already departing, nearly out of the wharf. The decoy.

The right itself was already in motion, steam emitting from the funnels. It was unmoored, already in the process of heading away. No. I didn't slow. Every fiber of my being went into running ahead regardless of the weight on my back, the arrow in my leg, and I put everything, every hope I had of living into putting one foot in front of the last.

Soldiers were present at the open hatches of the ship, level with the dock as it moved away. I can make it. I can make it.

I sprinted forward, spurred by their yells, their cheers, and I saw them standing there as well, Zek and Zare. They made it. And perhaps that's what it had been that gave me the extra strength I needed.

My foot came in contact with the wood of the dock, and I didn't stop. The open door was about to leave the side of the dock. Come on!

The ship was still moving, gaining speed at that. Come on! I ran, the hatch was now beyond the extent of the dock, but I didn't stop. I still just ran. I can make it. I have to make it.

I was running out of dock to run on. I put everything I had into those next few bounds, and felt my foot reach the end of the platform, putting everything into launching myself off, arms outstretched, coming in contact with the surface of the ship, sliding down, doomed to fall, until a hand clutched my wrist.

I looked up, damn near ready to have puked out my heart, and met the face of Zek and Zare, both of them reaching out to aid me inside, myself gladly accepting their aid as they pulled me up into the vessel as arrows and blasts of fire began landing around me, the other soldiers hurriedly clearing the way, giving space for me to stumble inside as quickly as possible.

The moment my feet touched the wooden floor beneath, I collapsed to the ground, barely saved from colliding with the floor by the combined effort of Zek and Zare alike.

"Close the hatch, close the hatch!" I could hear a soldier calling, followed by the metallic creaking of the hatches closing, only left open for my hopeless return. But I'd made it, I chuckled. I did it.

I let my eyes open to be met by the faces of Zare and Zek above me, struggling to my feet, assisted by the two. The ship was still alive with activity, soldiers shuffling all about the decks.

"Holy shit," I heard Zare exclaim to my side. "How the hell-"

"I told you," I chuckled. "Got a few tricks up my sleeves."

I looked around. It was only the two of them. Where is she?

"Ka'lira?" I asked.

"She's fine," answered Zek. "She made it.

I nodded. Thank Raava.

"Get me up to the main deck. They might need our help."

"What you need is to sit down," retorted Zare. "You're beat the hell up."

"Get me up there," I demanded, and I guess the two figured there was no use in saying 'no'. The two helped guide me up the stairs onto the main deck that was alive with activity, and so I could see why. This was far from over.

The decoy ship was in front of us, headed on a straight course.

It would leave the mist first. It would take the first volley from the Fire Navy ships and go down. I shook my head. No. No, it won't do. It'll only buy us a few seconds. If they pursue us, and they will, we'll go down all the same.

"It's not going to work," I muttered, watching the ship ahead of us as it travelled ahead, now out of the wharf. "They'll know it's a decoy if it just heads on a straight course."

The other two was silent, and I wondered why until I understood. The ship steered right, further into the Nip, towards the direction I had expected us to go. It's not unmanned.

Sure enough, the Fire Navy had been waiting ahead of the wharf, just barely visible beyond the mist as they turned to gain a line of fire on the distraction. Who the hell is piloting it?

The Fire Navy ships were in position we could now see as we drew ever closer, and in conjunction with the boom of the Fire Nation guns and catapults firing, our own vessel made a hard left. Left? Closer to the blockade? No, it made sense. The Earth Kingdom had one last coastal holding. After that, there was nothing. It was our last shot.

The shots rang out, and the attention of all survivors aboard the ship turned to witness what transpired as the decoy ship was hit full force. The first volley had only been launched by a single Fire Navy ship, but it had been enough to set the ship ablaze, destroying nearly the entire deck, puncturing the hull, already sending the ship headfirst into the sea before the next volley completely tore it apart. The ironclad vessel could take no more and it collapsed at the midpoint, splitting in half and listing to the side until completely capsizing, a flaming wreck cut completely in half, gone, having done its job, having taken the beating that should have been reserved for us.

Us, on the other hand, I suppose the Fire Navy had not expected us to turn left. I suppose they had simply missed us as we were not pursued. We all held our breaths, waiting for a volley from another Fire Nation cruiser, but it never came. We set out through the night's mist, untouched, more lucky than we would ever know.

I learned later from Gordez that just a normal soldier had volunteered to give us the distraction we needed. Nobody special, I learned, just a volunteer from Heigou. Heigou, of all places. He had lost his home, lost everything of his old life, and now, he had given his life for his only other home, his only other family. His name was Baihang, and he was one of the 237 Earth Kingdom soldiers who had died in that single night.

There were only 298 of us left, and we sailed through the night only a fraction of the force we had been just an hour ago.

We had barely escaped with our lives. Just how? I still couldn't really comprehend. Only that we had.

We made it, I realized. Somehow, we had all gotten out alive. Me, Gordez, Zek, Ka'lira, and Zare. We had gotten lucky. Even as my wounds were tended to, the arrow removed from my leg, my other cuts disinfected, and gauze applied to my burns, I had no doubt that I had been one of the lucky ones. I survived an encounter that not many could boast to have seen the end of. And the people I cared about, we all lived too. Why had we been so lucky where nobody else had been?

I shook the thought aside. There was no use in dwelling on the past, but there was in dwelling on the future, and I wondered to myself just what the odds were that we would get so lucky a second time.